SCOTUS ruling fuels voters' ire

As if voters weren’t mad enough at Washington, the Supreme Court apparently has given them one more reason to fume.

According to a bipartisan poll released Monday, voters oppose by a 2-to-1 ratio the court’s ruling in Federal Election Commission v. Citizens United that cleared the way for corporations and unions to run political advertising.

Story Continued Below

The poll suggests that the ruling has reinforced voters’ sense of disconnect with Washington and fueled the frustration that boiled to the surface in last year’s tea party protests and in elections in New Jersey, Virginia and Massachusetts.

Asked if special interests have too much influence, 74 percent of respondents said yes. Asked if members of Congress are “controlled by” the groups and people who finance their political campaigns, a whopping 79 percent said yes.

Only 24 percent of the voters said ordinary citizens can still influence politicians, and just 18 percent agreed with the notion that lawmakers listen to voters more than to their financial backers.

Voters also issued a harsh assessment of President Barack Obama’s promises to change Washington and limit the influence of special interests.

A majority — 51 percent — now believe the clout of corporations and other special interests has increased since he took office, while only 32 percent said their influence has decreased.

“There’s no doubt about this. The last thing people want to see is corporations having a bigger role in elections,” said Stan Greenberg, the Democratic polling expert who worked on the survey. The respondents’ reactions were “knee jerk and with intensity.”

The survey was commissioned by Common Cause, Change Congress and Public Campaign Action Fund to measure voter support for a bipartisan reform bill that would revamp the campaign finance system. That bill, the Fair Elections Now Act, would provide a 4-to-1 match of some donations of $100 or less for candidates who don’t seek or accept corporate checks. Qualifying candidates would also receive discounted television time and vouchers to cover a portion of their broadcasting budget.

While Democrats could face a backlash for failing to deliver on their promises of change, the survey has warnings for Republicans, too. They are positioning themselves to block passage of new regulations for the financial industry, which, according to a Wall Street Journal report, they hope will result in bigger donations from Wall Street in the midterm elections.

The party’s traditional identification with Big Business could be dangerous, given the voters’ discontent today and the new attention the court’s ruling could bring to it.

“This has been an issue that’s been off the radar screen,” said Mark McKinnon, the Republican partner in the polling project. Now, “it is getting people’s attention, including and especially among Republicans.”